By Example
by Inksaber
Summary: Anakin, Ahsoka and the Jedi Code.


**Hello everyone, long time no see. This isn't exactly a new story- I wrote it two years ago for a writing challenge, but I just never got around to posting it here. You may have already read this story on Ao3, but if you haven't, please enjoy.**

* * *

_There is no emotion, there is peace._

"I don't understand," Ahsoka admitted to her Master. "If Jedi aren't supposed to show emotion, how are we supposed to be compassionate? That part of the Code contradicts what we stand for as Jedi."

"If you take it at face value, maybe," Anakin replied. He set down the datapad he was using to write a report. "But the Code isn't telling us we aren't ever allowed to have emotions. What it's saying is that we shouldn't let our emotions rule us. If you have an important decision to make, make it with peace, not out of anger, or fear."

"That makes sense." Ahsoka frowned. "Why doesn't it just say so?"

Anakin shook his head, amused. "I dunno, Snips. I asked Obi-Wan the same thing when I was a Padawan."

"And what did he say?"

"Some knowledge should be earned, not taken, my young apprentice," Anakin said in a credible impression of his Master. Ahsoka masked a snicker behind her hand and went back to her studies.

* * *

_There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._

"You alright there, Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka dropped her hand from her chin and suppressed a yawn. "I'm fine, Master. I just have a lot of studying to catch up on since we've been away from Coruscant for so long."

She expected him to nod in sympathy and leave her to it. Instead, he came around the table and sat down beside her. "What is it today? Languages? Galactic affairs? History?"

"History," Ahsoka said. "The Hundred-Year-Darkness." It wasn't boring by any means, but once she was finished the chapter on that, she needed to start on her languages. It was going to be a long night.

"Hey, I remember doing that bit," Anakin said. "Do you have any questions? I was pretty good at history."

And swordmanship, and languages, and galactic affairs, and most other subjects, from what she had heard. Ahsoka had big shoes to fill as his Padawan. She would appreciate the help with her studies, but...

"What's wrong?" she asked suspiciously. "This isn't like you. At all."

"Nothing's wrong," Anakin assured her. "But you've been stuck in the library all day and you deserve to have some free time before we ship back out again. So let's get this over with."

Ahsoka blinked. The fact that Anakin occasionally paid attention to things like that was news to her.

But, it was also nice that he cared. She found herself smiling. "Thank you, Master."

* * *

_There is no passion, there is serenity._

_ "Rex!" _Ahsoka yelled across the blasterfire. She made to run across the battlefield to the fallen soldier, but Anakin held her back.

"If you try to go over there in fire this heavy, you _are _going to get hit," he hissed. "Jesse and Kix are with him. The best thing you can do for Rex right now is to clear your mind and finish this fight." His gaze softened, just a bit. "Okay?"

Ahsoka took a deep breath, forcing herself not to look back across the field to Rex's prone form. "Okay."

They dove back into the fray, but things were different now. Feelings of anger and fear drove Ahsoka's actions, making her swings heavier and her head feel clouded. She gritted her teeth and took down one battle droid with such ferocity that she almost got shot by another coming up behind her. Frustrated, she hacked that one into pieces as well.

This wasn't working. She was trying to channel her emotions into a passion that could help them win this fight, but it was leaving her vulnerable and she was making mistakes she hadn't made in months.

_Focus, _she told herself. _Clear your mind. You can do this._

She took a breath, in and out, and the world around her seemed to come back into focus. She reached for the Force to help center herself, and slowly, the clouds in her mind lifted.

She had found her point of serenity, and now she would win this for Rex.

Later, when they had secured a perimeter and Rex was safely in the med bay aboard the Resolute, Anakin came up beside her.

"You did well today Snips," he commented. "I saw you starting to lose it out there, but you pulled it together and kept going."

"Your training is finally starting to pay off," Ahsoka said lightly, though inside she was beaming at the praise. Anakin nodded.

"That must be it," he said in that false cocky tone of his. Then he smiled warmly. "In any case, good job."

* * *

_There is no chaos, there is harmony._

It was a two man job. Get in, get out, don't be seen. Both as simple and as difficult as that.

All the men nominated Anakin and Ahsoka for the job.

"It couldn't be anyone else," muttered Hardcase, and there were several murmurs of agreement.

The two of them ran silently through the grasslands of Vexis III, careful to stay out of the path of the searchlights coming from the Separatist compound. The weight of twenty thermal detonators in each of their packs didn't even slow them down.

Once they were safely in the shadows at the base of the compound, Anakin stepped back to look at the tall walls before them.

"You ready?" he said in an undertone.

"Just like we practiced," Ahsoka confirmed. She took a running start at the wall, then leaped, using the Force to assist her. As her feet left the ground, she could feel Anakin drawing on the Force to give her an extra boost. For a moment she was flying, soaring through the dark skies over the compound.

She touched down on top of the wall, careful to make as little noise as possible. Turning around, she accessed the Force again- this time to help Anakin as he made his jump. When they were both on the wall, Anakin gave her a short nod, then ran left along the wall. Ahsoka turned right.

The whole thing had taken less than thirty seconds.

Getting in undetected had been the hard part. From there, it was easy to sneak around the Separatist compound, evading battle droids and planting thermal detonators. They had both agreed on their respective courses of action beforehand- Ahsoka would take the open yard, Anakin would go for the reactor powering the compound. When they were done, they would meet outside.

Ahsoka planted her last five detonators on the tanks by the door, then slipped outside with the patrol. When she got to the rendezvous point, Anakin was waiting.

"What took you so long?" he quipped, and Ahsoka rolled her eyes, knowing it was too dark for him to see.

"Better to be thorough than to rush through and make mistakes," she said.

"Now you sound like Obi-Wan," Anakin said. He held up his thermal detonator switch. "Ready?"

Ahsoka raised her own and nodded. Anakin counted down, and on one, they both pressed their switches.

Two hundred yards away, the separatist compound lit up as bright as day.

Anakin and Ahsoka exchanged satisfied looks. With them, the result of harmony was usually chaos, and that was the best part.

* * *

_There is no death, there is the Force._

"I brought you some tea," Ahsoka said softly. She stepped further into Anakin's quarters, taking in the silhouette by the window. He wasn't standing tall like he usually did. There were new lines of grief etched into his frame.

Anakin didn't move. "No thank you." His voice was hoarse.

"Anakin, you haven't eaten anything in days."

"I'm not hungry."

Ahsoka set the tea down on his workshop bench and came to stand beside him at the window. Usually, silences between them were peaceful and calm. This one was not. It was awkward and empty and Ahsoka could tell that her Master was struggling to control his emotions.

"You still haven't been sleeping, huh?" she guessed. "Neither have I." The nightmares were so bad, she didn't want to try.

Anakin looked up at that. "You need to sleep, Snips. We have to be ready in case the Council decides to send us out again."

Ahsoka rested a hand on his shoulder. It was a role reversal that was rare with them. "Maybe it's time for you to take your own advice."

Anakin shook his head. His lips were pressed tightly together. "I can't."

"I know."

He took a few steps back, then, sinking down onto one of the round meditation stools by the window. Ahsoka sat down on the other, taking a moment to study his features.

He looked thinner, like he'd lost weight he couldn't afford to. His face was pale and drawn and his eyes were dull, like a spark had gone out within them.

Anakin loved deeply and he felt loss even deeper. It wasn't a surprise that Obi-Wan's death was affecting him like this, but it broke her heart further all the same.

"Have you been meditating like Master Yoda said?" Anakin asked.

After the funeral, Master Yoda had told them both to meditate and release their grief into the Force. Ahsoka had tried at first, but quickly discovered that destroying things in the training room was much more effective at taking her mind off things.

"Sort of," she hedged. Anakin raised an eyebrow and she sighed. "No."

"I understand," Anakin said. "But Ahsoka, meditation is still important. These things... take time to process, and meditating can help with that."

"Then why aren't _you _meditating?" Ahsoka challenged lightly. By now, she could tell the difference between pieces of wisdom that Anakin meant and things he was saying because he thought she was supposed to learn them.

He looked down. "I can't."

"Don't give me the official Jedi Master sayings, Anakin," Ahsoka said, leaning forward. "Not after- not now."

"What do you _want_ me to say, Snips?" Anakin said helplessly. "I can't tell you to sleep, because I'm not sleeping. I can't tell you to meditate, because I'm not doing that either. I could tell you _there is no death, there is the Force _and _a Jedi does not form attachments _a hundred other things, but that won't help because you and I are too alike for our own good."

"Master Kenobi used to say that a lot," Ahsoka said without thinking. "Usually after we'd pulled off another one of your wild schemes."

"Hey, those schemes worked every time, no matter what he tried to say," Anakin retorted automatically, and they both stared at each other for a moment.

It was the first time one of them had directly mentioned Obi-Wan since that day in the alley.

Anakin cleared his throat, glancing away. Ahsoka twisted her fingers together in her lap.

And the world just- kept going.

There was silence again, but this time it was much less awkward.

"As for what I want you to say," Ahsoka ventured after a while, "yes to the tea would be a good start."

Anakin blinked, as if he'd completely forgotten about it. He aimed a hesitant smile at Ahsoka. It was a shadow of his usual bright, cocky grin, but still a good sign. "You know, tea sounds great, Snips. Thanks."

It wasn't just a thanks for the tea, and they both knew it.

"Anytime, Master."

* * *

**Thank you for reading! I have a few more stories coming this weekend, so stay tuned.**


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